I swam with whale sharks and it was awesome! Back in 2014, you see, I was burnt out physically, emotionally, energetically and spiritually. It seems to be a pattern that I have been repeating and there are big events that mark them in my life, so I remember them well.

In 2012 my common-law partner had lost his job suddenly and being a vice-president, he wasn't allowed any unemployment insurance benefits to help him transition. 

He had always dreamed of becoming an entrepreneur. So as a good partner, “wife” and supporter, I gave him all the space he needed to investigate and to achieve his dream of becoming an entrepreneur.

It took him two years. During this time, he brought in absolutely no money.  But he wasn’t concerned. 

I was the one who took on extra odd jobs as well as doing my holistic coaching and yoga teaching just to help bring money in. He didn't even seem to be bothered by the whole situation yet he's the one who had his two children and his parents living with us under our roof. I even borrowed money from a family member to help pay the mortgage…and yet I stayed. 

So August 1st 2014, his dreams were finally realized. I cried with joy because of all the stress that I had been undergoing to support him throughout those 2 years. I was so excited for him that I threw a surprise celebration party with his best friends from university, his family, his children, and in-laws. We all came together to celebrate his big achievement. We knew how long and hard he had worked to get to that point to become a partner in a business, but I never got the same recognition for all my efforts in supporting him and his family in return…

I was so burnt out that I had nothing left to give. My battery was below zero. And so, I decided that I needed to get away even though we couldn't afford it. My physical body demanded it. Because he was just starting his business, I decided to go away on my own.

I went down to Riviera Maya, Mexico in a beautiful hotel that served all my needs including Food Service in my room without even someone coming into my room. It was a cubicle where they left the tray and I could live undisturbed for as long as I wanted.

I went away for two weeks. For that first week all I did was eat and sleep.

Seven whole days. 

I was slowly recuperating. 

Away from everyone and everything. I was absolutely fine.

I spent time journaling in the morning. I was doing some yoga during the day. I was taking long walks on the beach in the evening. 

I was slowly coming back home to myself.

In the second week, I started to get better and get back some energy so I decided to explore the resort.

I visited the watersports concierge and he talked to me about scuba diving. Now I have asthma so I was told all my life that I couldn't scuba dive in case there was a health issue under water. 

Since my teens, I had dreamed of being a marine biologist and scuba diving. Becoming a marine biologist did not pan out for me, as life had other plans, but that's a story for another time

So, we decided that I would do it safely and start with the pool and then if that goes well, I could start in the 25 M of water right off the resort and after that I could go to swim in the beautiful reef, which I did.  I made my dreams come true by scuba diving in Cozumel reef, which was an absolutely gorgeous and delightful experience.

I was gaining back my vitality and my body and soul essence were filling up with joy, enlightenment and peace. I was gaining back a part of myself that I had pushed aside 20 years before.

Throughout the week, the watersports concierge was telling me that August was the time when whale sharks came through on their annual migration. 

At this point I was so aligned with myself in wanting to experience this remarkable event that I got a surprise invitation to snorkel with the whale sharks. The day before I was leaving the resort, the sports concierge found me and told me that there was a wedding crew that had booked the trip, but one member got sick. 

The catch was that I had to be out in the boat by 8am and I was leaving the resort by 12pm to catch my flight home. So, the cool part was that I made it all happen and I got to swim with whale sharks and it was the most awesome experience in my whole life. 

In that one day, I swam in the middle of the ocean with whale sharks, and then immediately left on a flight home. What a wonderful day!  It was full of extremes: full of passion, full of emotion, full of wonderful memories.

At the beginning of my trip, I realized that I had over-served my partner and supported the family, which wasn't even mine, to such a degree that I was completely burnt out, and I needed to sleep for seven days straight.

What's the lesson here? By listening to your soul, magical transformations can happen.

I decided to take care of myself even though I couldn't afford it, because my soul was screaming for it and I went away and I had a two-week retreat to rejuvenate, to get back in touch with my essence and fulfill my dreams.

My question to you is: what are you doing today to get back in touch with your true self, your soul essence, and fulfill your dreams that maybe you pushed aside?  

What are you doing to rejuvenate yourself so your battery is not at 0%? I don't think that you would ever allow your cell phone, your tablet, your laptop or any other electronic device to go to 0%. They help our lives run more easily. 

But we don't think twice that if our personal body's battery is heading toward zero or shut down, that we actually take it into account and make changes, or go on a retreat, whatever the retreat looks like for you. 

Boundaries are a key element to helping you stay healthy, mentally, emotionally, and energetically.  

If you resonate with this story, maybe you now decide that it's time for you to not let your battery go down to 0% again and again and again…

Maybe you're done with pushing your needs to the side.

Maybe you now want to stay connected with yourself and know when that warning signal is coming and not just ignore it. 

If you are someone who is committed to taking imperfect action towards creating a better life for yourself, then consider this as your personal invitation to enroll in the Better Boundary Bootcamp.  

The future is in your hands...if you are ready to commit to transformation and change your future, DM me to get started. The time is now to take back control of your life.

Later it will take care of itself. It always does. Today it’s time to take care of you…

If you enjoyed this article, I invite you to join my free Facebook community called Becoming Your Authentic Self to get more tips and support as a recovering (or soon-to-be) people-pleaser.